Retail Opportunity Initiative - Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment - Walmart Foundation

 
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Retail Opportunity Initiative - Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment - Walmart Foundation
Retail Opportunity
Initiative
Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment

 APRIL 2019

  Four years ago, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation launched the Retail Opportunity
  Initiative, with the aim to accelerate careers across Walmart and the entire retail sector.
  Walmart and the Walmart Foundation made a $100 million philanthropic commitment
  toward identifying ways to accelerate mobility. At the same time, the Walmart U.S.
  business invested billions in enhanced wages, benefits and training to build stability and
  create mobility for our associates. This report provides a comprehensive look at the
  philanthropic strategy and funding to date — along with an appendix highlighting our
  investment in U.S. associates.
Retail Opportunity Initiative - Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment - Walmart Foundation
Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

Working to increase mobility across
the retail sector through philanthropy
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation invest strategically in strengthening the capacity of the retail sector as a springboard to
economic opportunity. We collaborate with leading nonprofits, employers, government agencies, educational institutions and
other key funders to identify and implement innovations aimed at increasing mobility for workers. We continue to focus on
three key strategies:

                 1                                                2                                                3
Generating and sharing                             Building effective and                           Engaging employers
insights into retail as a                        innovative approaches to                           and improving cross-
 sector of opportunity                          training and advancement                            sector collaboration

While our work on the Retail Opportunity Initiative focuses on advancement, we have learned stability is an important
precursor to mobility and have actively sought partners who work in that space. Both are a critical part of advancement for
frontline working learners.

Strategy 1
Generating and sharing insights into retail as a sector of opportunity
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are funding research and engaging thought leaders in an effort to change the narrative
about frontline retail jobs. By raising the quality of job training and increasing opportunities for advancement, we’re turning the
retail sector into a launch pad for career growth and economic mobility.

IMPACT/LEARNINGS:                                                     FUTURE AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE:
• The impact of this work has helped make the business case           • Profiles and Segmentation for Service Sector Workers: Gain
  to invest in entry-level retail workers. For example, the FSG         clarity on the profiles and segments of incumbent service
  report Investing in Entry-Level Talent: Retention Strategies that     sector workers: who they are, what skills they have and what
  Work is rooted in evidence-based ways to improve retention            factors affect their success on the job.
  and proves the business value.                                      • Future High Demand Skills: Know what skills are valued
• A tightening labor market and uncertainty about how                   today and what skills will be valued in the future in retail and
  entry-level jobs will be impacted by automation has put an            adjacent sectors given the changing landscape of work.
  increased focus on frontline incumbent workers and the              • Learning at Scale: Determine which scalable models of
  retail sector in the spotlight. Determining what skills will be       learning work for employees and employers.
  required in the future is a growing question and attention has
  shifted to the need for upskilling and reskilling of entry-level    • Elements of Stability: Understand which elements of stability
  workers.                                                              are most essential to support advancement and for which
                                                                        populations.
• Another key impact of the initiative is the ability to fund and
  broadly share research, such as the National Skills Coalition’s     • ROI Research: Develop a strong evidence base for why
  Foundational Skills in the Service Sector report. This is used by     investing in continuous learning for employees is good for
  several key stakeholders, including other employers.                  business.

2
Retail Opportunity Initiative - Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment - Walmart Foundation
Strategy 2
Building effective and innovative approaches to retail training and advancement
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are investing in training and other interventions to help workers develop skills that enable
them to advance within retail and adjacent sectors. To date, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have provided funding for training
and services to more than 50,000 prospective and current frontline workers beyond Walmart. The impact of this strategy extends far
beyond the workers whose lives are directly impacted, raising up entire families and serving as a positive driver in the new economy.

IMPACT/LEARNINGS:                                                   FUTURE AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE:
This work has served as a catalyst for the need to focus more       • Learning Products: Support growth of learning products that
energy and attention on the learning needs of incumbent               are relevant, timely, cost-effective and built for the user.
workers. As a result, our philanthropic investments are             • Future-Oriented Content: Ensure relevant, trusted learning
leading to the creation of an entirely new suite of tools and         content is available for incumbent workers; content must
technologies, as well as a rise in new models and methods for         take into consideration the skills needed in the future.
deploying learning programs to workers. This includes:
                                                                    • Enabling Environments for Learning: Support deepening
• Rise of micro-learning and hybrid learning models to better
                                                                      understanding of what incentives motivate employees to
  serve the learner. Examples of our investments in this              take advantage of learning opportunities and have models
  space include our work with edX, Goodwill and National              that support these behaviors.
  Immigration Forum.
                                                                    • Clear Skill Signals: Develop effective and recognized
• More strategic investments to fill the technology gaps of           assessments and signals (badges, credentials, etc.) that are
  tools serving adult learners. For example, the Employment           competency based, unbiased and portable; enable learners
  Technology Fund was created to target innovative tech-              to demonstrate their skills and employers to hire based on
  based solutions to support more than 100 million adults living      these skills.
  in America who struggle to find meaningful employment.
• Rise in collaboration across learning and education funders,
  which led to Walmart Giving’s co-investment with Google.org
  in South Bend, IN to create a lifelong learning city.
• There has been a resurgence in the importance of employer-
  driven learning, including Upskill America’s “Upskill
  Playbook” and Jobs for the Future’s “Apprenticeship and
  Work-Based Learning Center.”

                                                                                                                                     3
Retail Opportunity Initiative - Creating Economic Opportunity Through Training and Investment - Walmart Foundation
Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

Strategy 3
Engaging employers and improving cross-sector collaboration
We believe that a stronger, more highly skilled frontline workforce will lead to greater opportunity for workers and strengthen
communities, while driving positive returns for retailers. Rewiring the system — so incumbent workers can more easily build skills
on the job and advance — will require stakeholders to work together in new ways.

However, given the scale of the upskilling need and the inability of the traditional system to meet that need on its own, we believe
employers need to take a more active role in the learning and development of their frontline workforce. A shared-value approach
not only benefits frontline workers, but delivers on a company’s bottom-line. We believe this type of approach could significantly
increase access to high-quality upskilling, creating economic mobility for millions.

IMPACT/LEARNINGS:                                                   FUTURE AREAS OF INTEREST INCLUDE:
In terms of encouraging cross-sector collaboration, we have         • Public-private partnerships that will grow the upskilling and
been successful in:                                                   skill-based hiring movement nationally.
• Bringing more retailers to the table and seeing a rise in         • Focus on state-level systems change that includes new and
  public-private partnerships around upskilling. We see this          innovative approaches to support incumbent workers.
  happening through pilots we have funded in Phoenix and            • Strategic investments in proactive local communities looking
  Dallas.                                                             to implement meaningful service-sector upskilling programs
• Grantees are working with retail employers to design training       within their regional labor market by engaging directly with
  programs and promotion practices that support career                retail employers.
  advancement for the frontline workforce. In Des Moines,
  IA, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions’ subgrantee,
  Central Iowa Works, is working with retailers to offer a
  supervisory training program to overcome high turnover and
  encourage engagement in upskilling programs.
• Getting multiple workforce development regions and
  states to integrate retail into their workforce and education
  strategies. Dallas, Phoenix, Colorado and California are
  all strategically engaging regional and state leaders to
  implement a retail strategy with an understanding of the
  important role of policy.
• Leading national workforce organizations, such as the
  National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), have
  integrated the retail sector into their work and have
  deepened their focus on incumbent workers.
• Creating and supporting new national networks, such as
  Rework America Business Network and FSG’s Talent Rewire
  labs. These efforts are leading the nation to a shared-value
  approach to talent development.

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Who We Work With
Below is a summary of the grants the Walmart Foundation or Walmart has made to date, aligned to
each of our three strategies.

As of November 2018, we have awarded over $100 million to over 45 organizations.

Grants that span across all 3 strategies:
Grantee              Amount           Summary                                                                            End Date
Hope Street Group    $809,500 &       Retail Community of Practice: Funding the creation and management of               April 2017 &
                     $1,170,000       the Retail Opportunity Network (RON), a community of practice focusing             April 2019
                                      on the retail sector that includes grantees of our initiatives as members. The
                                      RON aims to increase collaboration, share and scale tools, and build external
                                      awareness of role of retail as opportunity among key stakeholders.

 Grants that support strategy 1:
 Generating and sharing insights into retail as a sector of opportunity
 Grantee             Amount       Summary                                                                                End Date
 Portland State      $751,126     21C Learning Ecosystem: The LLTR will work with the EdTech Center @ World              Sept 2021
 University                       Education on a five phase, 36-month project to create and implement a multi-
                                  phased study that will identify the constellation of factors in a learning ecosystem
                                  that motivate working learners to engage and persist in digital learning activities
                                  that develop the digital fluency necessary to succeed in a 21st Century workplace.
                                  A variety of data sources will be collected from at least three workplaces in three
                                  cities, including semi-structured interviews, surveys to collect information from
                                  frontline workers, quantitative data extracted from LMS systems, questionnaire
                                  and follow-up interviews, and site visits/observations.

 Corporation for a   $220,000     The Future of Retail and Implications for Strategies to Advance Front-line             April 2019
 Skilled Workforce                Workers: CSW will publish a paper that examines how public policymakers and
                                  workforce professionals are systematically or episodically analyzing real-time
 (CSW)                            changes and the future of work and proposing changes to policies, funding and
                                  programs to build skills and support advancement of front-line workers in a
                                  dramatically changing labor market.

 Digital Promise     $201,990     Data Interoperability: Conducted a landscape analysis of existing data standards       Dec 2018
                                  that influence the workforce development system, collected case studies of
                                  successful examples of data interoperability, and ultimately convened key advisors
                                  to develop recommendations for future efforts that lead to the creation of a data-
                                  driven learning ecosystem.

 FSG – Gender        $625,000     Advancing Women to Realize the Full Potential of the Retail Workforce: FSG is          June 2019
 Equity                           conducting a landscape analysis of employer practices that have proven to help
                                  the equitable advancement of women from frontline positions in the retail sector.
                                  The resulting report will include 12 evidence-based practices that employers
                                  can consider using within their frontline workforce to help women more easily
                                  advance. FSG is also using the research framework to lead a Gender and Racial
                                  Equity Working Group for the Retail Opportunity Network (RON).

 FHI 360             $1,995,000   Promoting the Value of Foundational Job Skills to Retail Workers & Employers:          Apr 2018
                                  This grant aimed to change the perception of the value of foundation job skills
                                  gained in retail employment for advancement in the retail sector or other industry
                                  sectors through in-store communication and social media campaigns. Target
                                  demographics included retail employers, non-retail employers (who are trying to
                                  recruit laterals from the retail sector) and retail employees with 0 – 18 months of
                                  experience. Test markets were in Baltimore and Chicago.

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Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

    Grants that support strategy 1 continued
    Grantee               Amount     Summary                                                                                End Date
    Southern New          $246,895   Identifying Worker Gains from Mastery of Workforce-Relevant Competencies:              Jan 2018
    Hampshire                        In order to establish a set of metrics for determining how to successfully upskill
                                     working learners, this project identified the workforce-relevant outcomes of a
    University (SNHU)                competency-based, post-secondary education for working adults.
    / College for
    America
    Jobs for the Future   $350,000   Work-based Learning (WBL) Opportunities for Retail: This research grant focused        Nov 2017
    (JFF)                            on identifying effective WBL strategies for the retail sector and how can they be
                                     implemented.

    Council for Adult     $293,424   Skills Transferability from the Retail Sector: CAEL conducted national research,       Nov 2017
    and Experiential                 analysis, and skill mapping that resulted in a set of recommendations for increased
                                     use of retail competency tools to affect action in transition of retail workers into
    Learning                         other growing economic sectors.

    FSG                              Research on Post-Hire Front Line Worker Retention Strategies: FSG conducted
                                     a scan of secondary research to identify and synthesize best practices/promising
                          $156,500   approaches for improving retention among frontline employees. Work was                 Oct 2016
                                     performed for the 100,000 Opportunity Initiative and Aspen’s Opportunity Youth
                                     Incentive Fund communities.

    New Profit            $199,902   Future of Work Skills Grand Challenge Feasibility Study: Research project that         Oct 2016
                                     aims to incentivize more scalable, accessible, and effective ways for Americans
                                     to develop Future of Work Skills, or the common set of critical skills employers
                                     generally value most, necessary to advance their careers (aka “soft skills” or
                                     “social/emotional skills”). This project includes field research on the development
                                     and assessment of these skills, proving that they are of value to employers, but
                                     there is a need in helping individuals gain access to training for these skills.

    Opportunity           $437,063   Retail and Opportunity Initiative: Opportunity Nation’s report, Retail’s               Oct 2016
    Nation                           Opportunity: Exploring the Industry’s Impact on People and Places, focuses on an
                                     exploration of the relationship between the retail sector and opportunity including
                                     new data framed around the Opportunity Index and examples of innovative
                                     efforts and personal stories. Research found a positive relationship between a
                                     state’s Opportunity Index Score and state retail employment rates, meaning
                                     that as retail employment rates increased, state’s Opportunity Index Scores also
                                     increased. Most significantly, the research found higher retail employment rates
                                     to be associated with economic, education, and community variables from the
                                     Opportunity Index.

    MDRC                  $154,592   Retail Sector Analysis: Conducted an in-depth analysis of workforce development        June 2016
                                     programs and a literature review to identify the most promising models for
                                     helping workers in retail, logistics and customer service achieve upward mobility.
                                     The analysis resulted in an internal memo outlining the most promising models to
                                     help advance frontline workers to middle-skill jobs as well as a published report
                                     with recommendations on models or tools that can be implemented or scaled.

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Grants that support strategy 2:
Building effective and innovative approaches to retail training and advancement
Grantee               Amount       Summary                                                                               End Date
Jobs for the Future   $3,000,000   National Support for Work-Based Learning: The Center's Service Sector WBL             May 2020
(JFF) 2.0                          platform will: 1) provide a comprehensive library of evidenced-based "best-in
                                   class" WBL programs, designs, tools and user-friendly resources; 2) engage a
                                   broad range of stakeholders in retail and with interest across the WBL spectrum;
                                   3) test, refine, and expand promising practices; 4) mount a campaign to increase
                                   and sustain private, public and policy momentum for viable WBL and workforce
                                   strategies in the Service Sector; and 5) leverage JFF Labs to identify and test new
                                   approaches to WBL, including emerging tech-enabled solutions in an effort to
                                   bridge traditional systems and system "disruptors."

Opportunity@          $1,500,000   Opportunity Through Training: Opportunity@Work is a nonprofit social enterprise       Apr 2020
Work                               with a mission to expand access to career opportunities so that all Americans can
                                   work, learn, and earn to their full potential in a dynamic economy.

New Profit            $2,000,000   Future of Work Skills XPRIZE Challenge: Building on the feasibility study             Mar 2020
                                   conducted in the previous grant (see above), this investment will help support
                                   the Future of Work Skills XPRIZE Challenge to incentivize teams to create
                                   technologies to teach frontline workers the “soft skills” most important to
                                   workplace success. In phase 1, we will support the fundraising for the full cost
                                   of the prize as well as the process to select three validation employers. Upon
                                   successful completion of this phase, the second phase supports the launching and
                                   implementing of the prize.

San Diego             $450,000     #ReimagineRetail: The Power of Technology: This grant will expand, scale and          Dec 2019
Workforce                          sustain the work SDWP began in 2016 and focus on equipping retail employees
                                   with the technology-based skills, competencies, and experiences to thrive and
Partnership, Inc.                  advance in the 21st century retail environment by: 1. training 450 individuals
                                   through customized training, the two social enterprise accelerators and/or
                                   the NRF certification in order for 360 of the 400 incumbent worker trainees
                                   to be promoted and 45 of the 50 unemployed trainees are placed in retail
                                   jobs; 2. serving 1,000 businesses via the Retail Advisory Council; single and
                                   multi-employer customized trainings; retail focused job fairs, networking and
                                   informational events; and offering LinkedIn Learning to employers/employees; 3.
                                   engaging 2,500 incumbent workers and job seekers on LinkedIn Learning platform

Workforce             $1,771,576   Retail Pay$: This grant will enable the continuation and growth of retail/service     Nov 2019
Solutions Greater                  employer engagement and training pathways for incumbent retail workers.
Dallas
Employment            $1,000,000   The Employment Technology Fund (ETF): ETF has issued grants and loans to help         Oct 2019
Tech Fund – New                    grow companies and/or non-profits working to scale technology-enabled solutions
                                   to address the major barriers faced by struggling adult learners. Investees include
Venture Fund                       Cell-Ed, Nepris, SkillSmart, NorthStar Digital Literacy Assessment, SignalVine,
                                   CareAcademy and Pairin.

Sustainable Food      $100,000     Center on Rural Innovation’s Opportunity Map: This project will enable a              Aug 2019
Lab                                rural opportunity map to be created so that foundations, investors, and other
                                   stakeholders can use data to analyze the reality in rural communities across the
                                   country.

National              $307,433     Advancing Innovative Solutions in Workforce Development to Support the Retail         Aug 2019
Association of                     Sector: Grant funds will be used to promote the outcomes and lessons learned
                                   through the Chicago Cook Partnership and their sub-grantees, as well as provide
Workforce Boards                   a platform to increase awareness of the opportunities that exist within the retail
(NAWB)                             sector.

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Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

    Grants that support strategy 2 continued
    Grantee               Amount        Summary                                                                                      End Date
    Goodwill Industries   $3,000,000    Good Paths: This grant seeks to improve the quality of navigation that is provided           July 2019
    International                       to front–line retail workers by improving the capacity of career navigators from
                                        third–party organizations to better navigate current, former, and potential retail
                                        workers through a model that can be scaled throughout the country.

    Chicago Cook          $10,900,034   National Workforce Development Board Lead for Careers in Retail Initiative: This             July 2019
    Workforce                           grant aims to increase the economic mobility of workers in retail and adjacent
                                        sectors by working with nonprofits, educational institutions and government
    Partnership                         agencies in 10 cities to make it easier for frontline workers to move faster into
                                        middle skills roles. Specifically, it will 1) Create a retail sector center in Chicago, 2)
                                        Build the capacity of a network of Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to provide
                                        strong retail services and develop models that promote career advancement in
                                        retail, and 3) improve the perception of retail career among WIBs and job seekers.

    International         $949,221      Advancing a Network for Empowered Adult Learning: ISTE will increase the digital             June 2019
    Society for                         capacity of the workforce field by developing a framework to guide technology
                                        development and adoption for organizations providing lifelong learning and
    Technology in                       development to adult working learners; create a professional learning course
    Education (ISTE)                    for technology adoption and development; and manage the Retail Opportunity
                                        Network’s Technology Working group by producing podcasts, webinars, and
                                        facilitating workshops at face-to-face RON convenings on current issues in
                                        technology and workforce development trends.

    Instituto del         $1,232,126    Chicago Retail Sector Career Bridge Program: Developing an open source Retail                June 2019
    Progresso                           Career Bridge curriculum targeting frontline service workers. It will include hiring
                                        and training instructors, recruiting students, evaluating the program and creating
                                        a how-to manual.

    Foundation            $2,388,430    Build Industry Partnerships and User-Centered Design for California’s new Online             May 2019
    for California                      Community College: The California Community College system is aiming to
                                        launch the first ever online community college in the US geared solely towards
    Community                           working adults. This grant will enable the community college to begin planning for
    Colleges                            the college by setting up the technical expertise, finding industry partners, and
                                        creating the career pathways available to students.

    League for            $2,997,453    Accelerating Career Mobility for Incumbent Retail Employees: Develop a                       April 2019
    Innovation                          pathway approach in retail management that builds off the successes of the
                                        Western Association of Food Chains’ Retail Management Certificate initiative
                                        by supporting 12 colleges offering cohorts of stackable credentials to employees
                                        from participating employers at no cost or reduced costs.

    National Retail       $2,800,000    Retail Industry Fundamentals: Includes two investments, starting first with                  April 2019
    Federation (NRF)                    an analysis of the retail industry’s learning and development needs through a
                                        comprehensive research study. The NRF Foundation is using this study to develop
    Foundation                          and scale an industry-validated training, assessment and credential program, Retail
                                        Industry Fundamentals, update two existing NRF credentials, build awareness for
                                        the value of the retail sector and conduct a feasibility study on the development
                                        of a retail career pathway platform.

    Credential Engine     $250,000      Credential Engine Registry: Credential Engine is working to improve transparency             Mar 2019
                                        in the credentialing marketplace by scaling and maintaining a web-based
                                        Credential Registry that uses software apps built on the registry’s data to
                                        enable job seekers, students, workers, and employers to search for and compare
                                        credentials. This grant will support the launching of an initiative to ensure that
                                        retail and hospitality credentials are included in the system.

    Hope Street Group     $50,000       Skilling America Strategic Planning: Skilling America is a multi-purpose online              Feb 2019
                                        platform that will teach workforce practitioners how to adopt a competency-
                                        based approach to their work -- with online training, tools, and resources that are
                                        designed to lead to a valid certification. This grant is to support the planning phase
                                        of this new initiative.

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Grants that support strategy 2 continued
Grantee               Amount         Summary                                                                                  End Date
edX                   $1,000,000     Microbachelors Program: edX is launching a series of “micro-learning”                    Jan 2019
                                     experiences. This is a new way of teaching designed to take less time and be
                                     delivered just in time (i.e. when the learner needs to develop a skill or piece of
                                     knowledge in the moment). The aim here is to make sure people without a college
                                     degree can have success and earn a microbachelors through their platform.

Dress for Success     $500,000       Retail Jobs Trajectory Program: This grant funded a job training program aimed at        April 2018
                                     helping entry-level female retail workers get the support they need to retain their
                                     jobs or advance within the retail sector. The program was be facilitated in 20 local
                                     DFS affiliates nationwide, supporting approximately 400 women. Goals of the
                                     program included measurable employee retention, increase in confidence, career
                                     advancement, and demonstrating ROI for employers.

Achieving the         $1,000,000     Building Stronger Pathways to Retail Careers through a Collective Impact                 Mar 2018
Dream                                Strategy: This project aimed to build the capacity of four community colleges
                                     (Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR; Broward Community College
                                     in Fort Lauderdale, FL; Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee, FL; and
                                     Durham Technical Community College in Durham, NC), Each college placed
                                     students in training that would help them secure middle-skills jobs in the retail
                                     sector and create a framework that can be replicated at other colleges. Achieving
                                     the Dream also catalogued the current status of community college retail
                                     pathways and identified lessons learned about retail career pathways that can help
                                     inform other pathways work.

National              $1,277,163 &   Skills and Opportunity for New American Workforce, Years 1-3: NIF created a              Feb 2018
Immigration Forum     $1,897,222     scalable, sector-wide Contextualized English Language (CEL) learning program
                                     that blends online and offline teaching for limited English proficient retail
(NIF)                                workers. Over the three years, NIF refined the curriculum, build a smartphone
                                     app, engaged employers to include English language training as part of their core
                                     training budget, and developed a sustainable business model for scale.

Generation            $1,250,000 &   Generation Retail Career Advancement: Generation planned and executed a                  April 2017
                      $4,868,750     place-based approach to support career advancement within retail and adjacent            Aug 2019
                                     sectors in Jacksonville, Florida by 1) developing an all-digital curriculum and
                                     supporting tools for career advancement, including customizing an online
                                     platform and implementing a digital simulation to teach quick decisions and
                                     balancing priorities; 2) enrolling 1200 students across the all-digital, in-person and
                                     blended programs of 60 hours of curriculum to test which program has the most
                                     ROI; 3) launching a coalition to address transportation as the biggest barrier to
                                     both training program completion and sustainable employment; and 4) supporting
                                     Innovate + Educate in Dallas as a training provider to run 8 cohorts with 200
                                     students total.

Goodwill Industries   $3,000,000     Retail Middle Management: This grant created a replicable, proven training and           April 2017
International                        support model that successfully advanced retail workers to higher–level jobs in the
                                     sector. The program was piloted in eight U.S. cities

Jobs for the Future   $3,000,000     Implementing High Quality Training Programs for TDL Occupations: Provided                Mar 2017
(JFF)                                technical assistance to 10 TDL occupational training programs that led to industry
                                     recognized credentials and job placement services for low- to middle-skill workers.

Dress for Success     $2,580,000     Going Places Network: Retail Education Advancing Leadership (REAL) Initiative:           Jan 2017
                                     This grant helped scale REAL, a training program for women in more than 30
                                     states, providing them with basic pre-employment work readiness and life skills.
                                     Funds helped expand on previous Walmart Foundation-supported work by
                                     including a pilot module that specifically focused on the retail sector, a special
                                     focus on underemployed women and increasing information sharing among
                                     participating offices.

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Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

 Grants that support strategy 2 continued
 Grantee                  Amount       Summary                                                                              End Date
 National Able            $944,459     Occupational Job Readiness Training for High-Growth Careers: Supported               Oct 2016
 Network                               National Able Network centers in Illinois and Indiana to provide occupational
                                       training and employment resources to job seekers in middle-skill jobs in retail,
                                       manufacturing and logistics. The funds also supported the publication of best
                                       practices, service innovations and methodologies for future national expansion of
                                       the program.

 McKinsey Social          $3,200,000   Generation: Launched a Generation Retail training program for mid-level retail       Jan 2016
 Initiative (MSI)                      workers. This is an expansion of MSI’s flagship program, Generation U.S., which
                                       seeks to bridge the gap between unemployed young adults and entry-level needs
                                       of employers. The grant also includes a report on career pathways in retail.

 FSG                      $286,750     Research on Pre-Hire Frontline Worker Retention Strategies: Conducted a              May 2017
                                       scan of secondary research to identify and synthesize best practices/promising
                                       approaches for improving retention among frontline/youth employees via pre—
                                       hire interventions. Work is being performed for the 100,000 Opportunity Initiative
                                       and Aspen’s Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund communities.

 Source: National Immigration Forum

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Grants that support strategy 3:
Engaging employers and improving cross-sector collaboration
Grantee              Amount       Summary                                                                                   End Date

Colorado             $4,117,883   Lives Empowered: The CWDC will work with local WIBs to launch a statewide                 Aug 2021
Workforce                         incumbent retail sector partnership leading to incumbent workers gaining the
                                  skills they need for advancement and creating an ecosystem in Colorado that is
Development                       conducive for employers, employees, and education/training providers to upskill
Council (CWDC)                    incumbent workers. Along with this, a “Lives Empowered” score will be calculated
                                  for incumbent workers who are upskilled to determine how empowered they feel
                                  using both quantitative (anonymous wage data) and qualitative (life satisfaction
                                  components on a survey) data. Lastly, a playbook will be created so other states
                                  can know the route to take to launch their own incumbent retail sector strategy
                                  throughout their respective state.

Southern Rural       $2,799,303   Strengthening Retail in Rural America: The grant will enable our first venture            Jan 2021
Development                       into two rural regions in each of three states: Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
                                  The grant will work to create economic development plans for multi-county
Center (SRDC)                     regions with local economic development agencies with retailers at the table. This
                                  grant will also create Retail Academies to inform people of the impact of retail
                                  on local economies. Lastly, this grant will partner with local entities to create or
                                  further training programs that are locally relevant for incumbent retail worker
                                  advancement.

Drucker Institute    $1,250,000   Turning South Bend into a True Learning City: With the planning phase over and            Dec 2020
                                  stakeholder engagement solidified, this grant will enable The Drucker Institute to
                                  begin assembling the myriad of parts to build a robust lifelong learning platform.
                                  This platform is both digital and physical and is designed to provide all residents
                                  with a digital learning record and access to learning experiences to meet their
                                  needs from birth to post-retirement for all 100,000 individuals in South Bend.

Chicago              $500,000     Reimagine Retail Chicagoland: Building on our past investments, this grant has two        Nov 2020
Community                         workstreams: 1) Conduct a place-based employer Talent Rewire Lab in Chicago
                                  and 2.) Launch a Retail Innovation Fund, which is a pool of resources that will be
Foundation                        made available for retail incumbent worker advancement projects that result from
                                  the Talent Rewire Labs.

U.S. Chamber         $2,464,000   T3 Innovation Network and the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) Upskilling                 Oct 2020
of Commerce                       Academy: This grant supports two programs. The T3 Innovation Network’s goal
                                  is to create the underlying data infrastructure needed to connect employer
Foundation                        signaling to the talent marketplace to align learning outcomes with in-demand
                                  competencies, verify credentialing and learning across providers, and promote
                                  hiring based on skills and competencies. The grant will also support the
                                  development of the TPM Upskilling Academies, cohorts of employers engaging in
                                  a process that equips HR teams to more clearly communicate their competency,
                                  credentialing and other advancement requirements to education and workforce
                                  partners.

Rework America       $1,000,000   Rework America Business Network: These two grants support the planning,                   Oct 2020
Business Network -   & $400,000   implementation and scaling phases of the Rework America Business Network, a
                                  project of the Markle Foundation. This network aims to bring together influential
New Venture Fund                  leaders and organizations who seek to use technology to transform America’s
                                  labor market from one largely based on traditional credentials and work history, to
                                  one rooted in the skills and lifelong learning valued in the digital economy. We are
                                  the lead funder for planning, implementing and scaling phases of this initiative.

Skillful – New       $600,000     Skillful, Indiana: This grant, led by the Markle Foundation, will accelerate Skillful’s   Oct 2020
Venture Fund                      mission to help more Hoosiers access better career pathways by embedding a
                                  skills focus at every point in a job seeker or advancer’s journey. This grant will
                                  ensure the skills that people already have are valued and for employers, career
                                  coaches, and trainers to build upon necessary skills to prepare students and
                                  workers for promising career pathways today and in the future.

                                                                                                                                       11
Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

 Grants that support strategy 3 continued
 Grantee                Amount        Summary                                                                                 End Date
 Center for the         $1,213,952    Phoenix Regional Retail Career Pathways 2.0: The Center for the Future of Arizona       July 2020
 Future of Arizona                    (CFA) will build on its first grant to focus on implementation and sustainability
                                      activities to deepen the impact of the RetailWorks AZ initiative in building a
                                      thriving ecosystem in Maricopa County for frontline retail workers to reach their
                                      full potential and increase economic mobility through skills acquisition.

 FSG                    $2,670,000    Racial Equity, Talent Rewire, RON: Three-part grant including a) Research and           April 2020
                                      publish a report on corporate racial equity in retail, b) Execute a 3rd Talent Rewire
                                      Lab and codify/disseminate the curriculum, c) Retail Opportunity Network (RON)
                                      strategy refresh and potential facilitation

 National Fund          $2,814,000    Organizing Retail Industry Partnerships: NFWS will manage regional retail               Jan 2020
 for Workforce                        workforce collaboratives in three NFWS partner communities nationwide for three
                                      years. These partnerships will ultimately lead to improved workforce systems, an
 Solutions (NFWS)                     increase in the number of retail employers actively engaged in building the skills of
                                      their workforce, and improvements in retail career pathways.

 U.S. Chamber of        $200,000      Job Data Exchange: Formerly the Job Registry, the Job Data Exchange’s (JDX)             Dec 2019
 Commerce                             goal is to address the employer signaling part of the ecosystem by creating more
                                      structured data on jobs, particularly at the competency, skills, assessment, and
                                      credential levels. It will also link to Credential Engine to unlock the ability for
                                      employers to crosswalk jobs to credentials in the Credential Engine. This grant
                                      is to support the piloting of the JDX via 3- 5 Employer/Provider partnerships,
                                      including one in retail. Outcomes include helping learners better understand
                                      current job requirements and how their skills align to them as well as helping
                                      employers develop, align, and distribute information on their hiring requirements.

 New America            $775,000      Rural ShiftLabs: Through ShiftLabs, New America works with communities to               Oct 2019
 Foundation                           diagnose local automation risk, surface potential responses, and design and
                                      implement new ways to connect workers to emerging opportunities. This grant
                                      would support four ShiftLabs in rural regions and mid-sized cities with rural
                                      adjacent communities, including Northwest Arkansas.

 Chicanos Por La        $247,900      Maryvale Workforce Initiative 2.0: CPLC will build on the work of the first grant       June 2019
 Causa (CPLC)                         to launch operations at a new space at Desert Sky Mall where they will focus
                                      specifically on retail and work in partnership with employers at mall.

 Code for America       $250,000      Launch Code for America’s Work on “Jobs”: Code for America currently works              May 2019
                                      on: Hunger and Justice – this grant will allow them to launch their work on jobs.
                                      This grant will enable Code for America research the public workforce system
                                      in several cities and then deploy brigades of volunteer technology workers to
                                      identify technology opportunities for improvements. The ultimate aim would be
                                      that any technology created would enable the end user of the system to access it
                                      more efficiently and that it could be scaled to other cities across the country.

 National Skills        $1,000,000    Building the Foundation: Strengthening Public-Private Systems for Upskilling            Dec 2018
 Coalition (NSC)                      Service Sector Workers: NSC promoted demand-driven adult education models
                                      such as industry partnerships and integrated education and training (IET) that
                                      allow businesses to signal their talent needs directly to education providers
                                      and assure workers that their skill-building investments will pay off in career
                                      advancement. The work took place in Texas, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky.

 New Venture Fund       $400,000      Rework America Business Network: The Rework America Business Network is                 Oct 2018
 - Rework America                     an initiative of the Rework America Task Force, which aims to bring together
                                      influential leaders and organizations who seek to use technology to transform
 Task Force/Markle                    America’s labor market from one largely based on traditional credentials and
 Foundation Phase 1                   work history, to one rooted in the skills and lifelong learning valued in the digital
                                      economy. This grant is to support the planning phase of the Rework America
                                      Business Network, which will bring together progressive employers from a range
                                      of sector to improve the likelihood of career advancement for the worker through
                                      improved skills acquisition and signaling while increasing the competitiveness of
                                      companies through access to a better skilled.

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Grants that support strategy 3 continued
 Grantee                Amount        Summary                                                                               End Date
 Aspen Institute        $600,000      UpSkill America 2.0: The outputs of this grant aim to help more employers to          Oct 2018
                                      establish upskilling programs, operate them, and assess the business value by
                                      1. Conducting a needs assessment of tools needed to establish, operate and
                                      evaluate various types of upskilling programs; 2. Performing a landscape scan of
                                      existing tools; 3. Developing new or adapted existing tools; and 4. The testing and
                                      deployment of tools by employers.

 Center for the         $946,994      Phoenix Regional Retail Career Pathways: Three-part investment that: 1)               July 2018
 Future of Arizona                    Conducted a retail sector landscape analysis; 2) Designed a retail sector strategy
                                      to provide retail sector employees the skills necessary to succeed and advance
                                      in retail or through retail and into another industries; and 3) Conducted regular
                                      stakeholder meetings to ensure progress toward the retail sector strategy.

 Chicanos Por La        $200,000      Maryvale Workforce Initiative: this grant coordinated the network of partners         June 2018
 Causa (CPLC)                         working together in a targeted, place-based effort to serve the Maryvale
                                      community with a range of workforce development services and build out a retail
                                      career pathway that will ultimately train 1,200 individuals and ultimately serve
                                      5,000 community members.

 Chicago                $500,000      Chicagoland Customer Service and Sales Career Pathway Initiative: Building on         Mar 2018
 Community                            the Pro Path Fund and the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative, this investment will
                                      cover two complementary systems change elements: 1) A workforce development
 Foundation                           program in which entry-level retail employers partner with a workforce service
                                      provider to enroll/employ participants and support them on a career pathway
                                      and 2) The development and promotion of City Colleges' pathways of stackable
                                      credentials in the retail management, customer service and sales tracks.

 Innovate + Educate     $1,480,669    Retail + Plus Acceleration: Sought to validate a place-based systems change           Feb 2018
                                      model that will improve the economic mobility of incumbent entry-level retail
                                      workers in Dallas. I+E built off of the assessment they designed and buy-in they
                                      secured in their first grant to continue working with employers, service providers,
                                      community colleges and the local Workforce Development Board to accelerate
                                      advancement of entry-level workers.

 FSG                    $1,000,000    Employer Innovation Labs: FSGl 1. designed and facilitated Innovation Labs for 6 to   Jan 2018
                                      9 employers; 2. recruited and stewarded a broader employer learning community
                                      for additional employers; 3. codified lessons learned and collect and analyze ROI
                                      data; and 4. designed an executive a communications plan with the ultimate goal
                                      of incentivizing employers to change their practices.

 Innovate + Educate     $924,282      Retail Industry and Regional Skills-based Hiring Implementation: Helped               Sept 2016
                                      move incumbent entry-level retail workers to higher-level jobs in the sector
                                      by researching, defining and articulating the competencies for successful
                                      advancement, then piloting the research in a specific site.

Communities and State Pilots

 •   Arkansas                •   Eastern Kentucky
 •   Baltimore, MD           •   Oklahoma
 •   California              •   Phoenix, AZ
 •   Chicago, IL             •   Rhode Island
 •   Colorado                •   San Diego, CA
 •   Dallas, TX              •   Seattle, WA
 •   Des Moines, IA          •   South Bend, IN
 •   Jacksonville, FL        •   Washington
 •   Kansas

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Retail Opportunity Initiative | April 2019

Investing in Walmart Associates
Walmart believes when associates have stability in areas like pay, benefits and scheduling, they are better able to
take advantage of the education and training opportunities we offer. Below are highlights of some of our recent
investments. To learn more, go to https://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/opportunity

Pay                                                                   • We’re also one of the first companies to introduce Protected
                                                                        PTO, where not required by paid sick leave laws, allowing
• We have raised our starting wages in the U.S. by more                 our associates to earn up to 48 hours of paid time that can
  than 50 percent over the past three years. Average total              be used anytime to cover scheduled shifts when they are
  compensation and benefits for our full-time hourly field              unexpectedly not able to make it to work
  associates is more than $19.31 per hour as of March 2019,
                                                                      • Scheduling: Over 50% of hourly associates in our Walmart
  including wages bonuses, and benefits, *
                                                                        U.S. stores are full-time
• Newly hired associates start at $11 per hour or more,                   »» Predictable scheduling: We recently improved schedule
  depending on geography                                                     predictability with a new system based on a method
                                                                             called core hours. Associates with core-hour schedules
• Walmart U.S. store associates continue to earn quarterly cash              normally work the same weekly shifts for at least 13
  bonuses –more than $793 million in FY19 alone.                             weeks, enabling them to plan and prioritize important
                                                                             responsibilities outside of work
• We have been very deliberate about our job offerings and
  will continue to listen to our people and invest in the training,       »» Flexible scheduling: In November 2018, we rolled out
  benefits and wages that they tell us are important. Our                    My Walmart Schedule, a system that allows associates
  wage, benefit and training investments have played a role                  to view schedules, swap shifts with other associates and
  in delivering better customer service and lower associate                  pick up unfilled shifts
  turnover in our stores.
                                                                      • Expanded maternity and parental leave covering U.S.
                                                                        salaried and full-time hourly associates: Walmart provides
Benefits                                                                associates with parental leave, as well as assistance with
                                                                        adoption expenses.
• 401(k): Full- and part-time associates can start contributing
  to their 401(k) on their first day with the company. Walmart        • The maternity paid leave benefit for U.S full-time hourly or
  provides up to a 6% company match after one year/1,000                salaried associates is ten weeks
  hours on the job.
                                                                      • The paid parental leave for U.S. full-time or salaried
• Cash bonus: Eligible associates may qualify for quarterly             associates after 12 months of service is six weeks.
  bonuses based on the performance of their store.
                                                                      • Birth moms can receive 16 weeks of total paid time away
• Health care: Walmart offers health benefits starting                  when maternity and parental are combined (10 weeks of
  at around $26 per pay period for all full- and part-time              maternity and 6 weeks of parental leave).
  associates who have worked an average of 30 hours per
                                                                      • These changes create parity for maternity and parental leave
  week over the past 12 months.
                                                                        benefits among salaried and full-time hourly associates,
• Paid Time Off (PTO): Walmart’s PTO streamlines paid                   making Walmart a leader in retail.
  vacation, sick time, personal time and holiday time into one
                                                                      • Short-term disability: Full-time Walmart associates have a
  category.
                                                                        short-term disability plan at no cost.

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• Share Purchase Plans: Walmart matches 15% of the first           • We’ve promoted more than 215,000 people to jobs of
  $1,800 associates contribute to the stock purchase program,        greater responsibility and higher pay in Walmart U.S. stores in
  up to $270 per plan year (age restrictions apply).                 FY2019.

• Discounts: Effective after 90 days of employment, full- and      • On average, Walmart U.S. store managers earn $175,000
  part-time associates receive ~save 10% off regularly priced        annually
  general merchandise, fresh fruits and vegetables. Associates
  saved about $550 million in FY18.                                • Turnover in our stores is down more than 10% (1000 bps) and
                                                                     the lowest in five years.
• Financial planning tools: Using the Even app, our associates
  can access tools to help them plan ahead for bills and savings
  goals, eliminating the work of figuring out how much money
  is okay to spend. When unexpected expenses occur, our
                                                                   Education
  associates can access earned wages ahead of scheduled            • In June 2018, Walmart unveiled a new associate education
  paychecks using an “Instapay” feature. The tools are available     benefit , Live Better U. designed to remove barriers to
  to all hourly and salaried Walmart, Sam’s Club and Walmart         college enrollment and graduation. In partnership with Guild
  eCommerce associates. As of February 2019, 600,000                 Education, Walmart associates are able to access affordable,
  associates used the Even app.                                      high-quality associates degrees and bachelor’s degrees in
                                                                     Business or Supply Chain Management.

Training and Opportunity                                               »» Under the program, which is available to all full- and
                                                                          part-time Walmart U.S. and Sam’s Club associates,
• In February 2016, we launched Walmart Academy, a                        Walmart subsidizes the cost of higher education, beyond
  dedicated training program that uses the Walmart sales floor            financial aid and an associate contribution equivalent to
  to train associates in advanced retail skills, leadership and           $1 a day.
  change management.                                                   »» Degrees are offered through the University of Florida,
                                                                          Brandman University and Bellevue University – nonprofit
    »» Our first Academy was launched in the Dallas area in
                                                                          schools selected for their focus and strong outcomes on
       February 2016 and has grown to nearly 200 locations
                                                                          serving working adult learners.
       nationwide. Since then, we’ve trained more than
       800,000 associates, including frontline supervisors,            »» Over 1,500 students began classes this past fall across
       department managers and assistant managers, in our                 our three university partners.
       Academies.                                                      »» In addition, associates can earn college credit for paid
                                                                          training at Walmart Academies.
• In February 2016, we also rolled out our comprehensive
  training program, Pathways, which helps create clear
  career paths from entry-level positions to jobs with more        • Walmart offers education benefits for college credit, GED,
  responsibility and higher pay. More than 850,000 associates        high school completion, language training and professional
  have completed the Pathways program since its inception.           development

• More than 75% of our U.S. store management teams started
  as hourly associates.

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